Device for applying heel-breast covering flaps



S. J. FINN DEVICE FOR APPLYING HEEL BREAST COVERING FLAPS Filed March 23, 1935 Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR APPLYING HEEL-BREAST COVERING FLAPS Application March 23, 1935, Serial No. 12,635

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a device for applying covering flaps to the breasts of Louis heels. 7

It is common practice to cover the breast of a Louis heel attached to a shoe by a flap which is split from the grain side of the rear end of the sole of the shoe. The flap is usually secured to the breast of the heel by cement, the flap being applied to the breast by the use of a hand tool or by the use of various types of machines. After the flap has been laid it is held temporarily under pressure against the breast of the heel until the cement sets.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive device which quickly and effectively applies a covering flap to the breast of the heel, and which may be left in clamped relation with a shoe and conveniently placed therewith upon a rack until the flap-attaching cement has set.

With the above and other objects in view and in accordance with a feature of this invention, the illustrated device comprises a pad which is filled with a displaceable fluid, and mechanism constructed and arranged to force the pad against a heel-breast covering flap at the rear end of the shank of the sole of a shoe and also to rock the pad in order to apply the flap to the breast 1 of a heel attached to the shoe progressively toward the tread end of the heel.

In the illustrated machine the pad is partly enclosed within a rigid carrier which is pivotally secured to a lever mounted for swinging movement upon a saddle of suitable shape to engage the counter portion of the outside of the shoe. After the pad has been positioned opposite the rear end of the shank of the sole and the saddle has been moved into engagement with the outside counter portion of the shoe, a handle portion of the lever is swung forwardly of the shoe to cause the carrier to move rearwardly and toward the shoe upper. As the carrier is swung the pad progressively applies the flap to the breast of the heel. After the flap has been effectively forced against the breast of the heel the lever is secured against movement to a last upon which the shoe is mounted until the flap-attaching cement has dried.

By the use of the above device the operator may quickly and effectively apply flaps to heels attached to shoes and place the shoes and the respective devices in clamped relation upon racks. The illustrated devices are cheap to manufacture and reduce the cost of the flap-applying operation to a minimum.

These and other objects of the invention will be described as embodied in an illustrative device and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the illustrated flap-applying device in clamped relation with a shoe;

Fig. 2 shows a vertical section of a portion of 10 the flap-applying device and the shoe illustrating the relation of the pad of the clamp and a portion of the shoe at the beginning of the flapapplying operation;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the relation of the flap-applying pad and the shoe after the flap has been partially applied to the breast of the heel;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View of a portion of the flap-applying device and a portion of the heel of the shoe taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken along line V-V of Fig. 1 and showing the relation of the pad and the heel of the shoe after the flap has been applied to the lower projecting portion of the breast of the heel; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken along lines VIV'I of Fig. 1.

The illustrated device is described with reference to applying a heel-breast covering flap 20, which has been split from the rear end of the grain side of the sole 22 of a shoe 24 mounted upon a last 26, to the breast of a heel 28 attached to the shoe. The split which forms the flap 20 extends slightly forward of the heel-breast line of the sole into the rear end of the shank portion of the sole.

The illustrated device comprises an inflatable pad 30 which may be readily filled with a displaceable fluid 32 such, for example, as air or water, the latter being preferable.

The pad 30 is partly housed within a rigid carrier 34 the lower portion of which is cut away in order to insure that the carrier shall not engage the shank of the shoe. The carrier 34 is of sufficient width to insure that it shall not contact with the sides of the shoe upper during the flapapplying operation. The pad 39 may be secured to the carrier by suitable means, it being found convenient to secure the same to the carrier by a valve 36 through which the pad may be inflated to the desired pressure.

Before the flap-applying device is placed upon the shoe the operator usually forces the flap 20 against the heightwise median portion of the breast of the heel to insure that the flap be properly located widthwise upon the breast of the heel and to insure that the flap shall not have a tendency to sag toward the pad.

A saddle 38 (Fig. 1), which is constructed and arranged to engage the outside counter portion 40 of the shoe is provided with a pair of trunnions 42 upon which is mounted a lever 44.. The lever 44 comprises a handle and inturned ends 48 which engage within recesses of studs 50, respectively, of the carrier 34. Theoperator places the flap-laying device upon the shoe with the pad 34 in engagement with the rear end of the shank of the shoe and the saddle 38 in engagement with the outside counter portion 40 of the shoe, and then swings the handle 46 of the lever 44 forwardly to cause the flap to be forced with considerable pressure against the rear end of the shank portion of the sole of the shoe, the saddle 38 serving as a support to oppose pressure of the pad 34 against the shoe. It will be noted that the carrier 34 is pivotally secured to the lever 44 at points spaced from the area of initial contact of the pad 34 and the shank portion of the shoe, the arrangement being such that as pressure is exerted by the pad 34 against the shoe, the carrier and the pad swing in a direction indicated by arrow 52 (Fig. 1) about its area of initial contact with the sole. The flap 20' is thus applied to the breast of the heel progressively toward the tread end of the heel. The work-engaging face of the pad 30' being laterally convex first forces the flap against the median portion of the heel and then applies the same simultaneously to the respective breast edges of the heel. Since the pad 30 is swung relatively to the heel the above-mentioned widthwise laying action takes place progressively along difierent heightwise portions of the breast of the heel.

After thehandle 46 of the lever 44 has been swung to its forward clamping position a monkey-bite 53 which is in sliding engagement with the handle 46 is forced against the last 26 and holds the pad 30 in clamping position against the breast of the heel. The shoe and the clamping device secured thereto may be placed upon a rack while the operator is applying flaps to other shoes thus permitting the cement to set.

The carrier 34 and the pad 30, respectively, may be replaced, if desirable, by carriers and pads of various shapes in accordance with the shape of the shoe. It has been found convenient to provide the carrier with one or more pairs of supplemental lever-receiving studs 56 for receiving the inturned ends 48, respectively, of the lever 44, in order that the pad 30 shall apply flaps to heels of various shapes more effectively.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: V

1. In a flap-applying device, a hollow pad containing a fluid, and means constructed and arranged to force the pad against a heel-breast covering flap at the rear end of the shank of the sole of a shoe and to rock the pad about its area in contact with the sole to apply the flap to the breast of a heel attached to the shoe progressively toward the tread end of the heel.

2. In a flap-applying device, a pad filled with a displaceable fluid, and means for swinging the pad simultaneously about two spaced axes to apply a covering flap split from the sole of a shoe to the breast of a heel attached to the shoe, said pad and said axes being so arranged that as the pad is moved about one of said axes against the shoe, pressure of the shoe against the pad causes:

the pad to swing about the other axis to apply a flap to the breast of a heel attached to the.

shoe progressively toward the treadendrof the heel.

3. In a flap-applying device, an inflatable pad, a rigid carrier constructed and arranged to include a substantial portion of the pad, a saddle for engaging the outside counter portion of a shoe, and a lever pivotally secured to the saddle and to the carrier and constructed and arranged to cause the pad to force a flap against the rear end of the shank portion of the sole of the shoe and then to cause the pad to rock about its area of initial contact with the sole to lay the flap against the breast of a heel attached to the shoe progressively toward heel.

4. In a device for applying covering flaps to the breasts of heels, a saddle constructed and arranged to engage the outside counter portion of a shoe, an inflatable flap-applying pad, a rigid carrier for receiving the pad, a lever pivotally mounted upon the saddle and also'pivotally secured to the carrier, saidcarrier being con structed and arranged to swing relativelyto the lever rearwardly of the shoe as the carrier is moved in a direction upwardly and rearwardly of the shoe by said lever, and means for mounting the carrier in various positions upon the lever in accordance with the shape of the shoe.

SIDNEY J. FINN.

the tread end of the 

